1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to extendable spouts for use in connection with ice and water dispensers on refrigerators. The extendable spout has particular utility in connection with filling large coolers, jugs, and other vessels without spillage.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Ice and water dispensers on the door of modem refrigerators have become a most desirable feature. However, filling a vessel larger than a drinking glass without spillage is quite difficult. Extendable spouts for such dispensers for use in filling larger vessels are known in the prior art. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,148,842 to Boust discloses a funnel-adapter for use in dispensing water and ice from a refrigerator water and ice dispenser, which has a curved cylindrical hand-held funnel that can be used to fill larger pitchers and bottles. However, the Boust ""842 patent discloses a device that is fixed in length and therefore cannot be extended in length to reach a cooler or other container sitting on the floor, and has the further drawback of being rigid and non-adjustable in tilt angle.
U.S. Pat. No. 1,946,760 to Rhine discloses an extendable spout that has a pivotal chute, primarily for use with grain elevators. However, the Rhine ""760 patent does not have slideable sections for extending the length and cannot be collapsed to a short length for storage.
Similarly, U.S. Des. Pat. No. D288,520 to Bozarth discloses the design for a waterspout for a water cool. However, the Bozarth ""520 patent has fixed angles and cannot be extended in length.
Lastly, U.S. Pat. No. 4,347,878 to Schofield, U.S. Pat. No. 3,927,703 to Beaubien, and U.S. Pat. No. 3,939,884 to Mader all disclose funnels with various types of spouts, which may be of general interest and pertinent to the construction and design of the present invention. However, all of these patents describe different structures from that of the present invention and none has extendable spouts or chutes that can be collapsed to short length for storing.
While the above-described devices fulfill their respective, particular objectives and requirements, the aforementioned patents do not describe a collapsible ice and water extendable spout that can be extending to long lengths for filling coolers, water cans, and other large vessels.
Therefore, a need exists for a new and improved ice and waterspout that can be extended to fill large containers that won""t fit in an ice and water dispenser cavity and can also be collapsed to a short length for storing. In this regard, the present invention substantially fulfills this need. In this respect, the collapsible ice and water extendable spout according to the present invention substantially departs from the conventional concepts and designs of the prior art, and in doing so provides an apparatus primarily developed for the purpose of servicing large vessels with ice and water.
In view of the foregoing disadvantages inherent in the known types of extendable spouts and chutes now present in the prior art, the present invention provides an improved ice and water extendable spout, and overcomes the above-mentioned disadvantages and drawbacks of the prior art. As such, the general purpose of the present invention, which will be described subsequently in greater detail, is to provide a new and improved collapsible ice and water extendable spout, which has all the advantages of the prior art mentioned heretofore and many novel features that result in an extendable spout that is not anticipated, rendered obvious, suggested, or even implied by the prior art, either alone or in any combination thereof.
The extendable spout of the present invention is an accessory for use with refrigerators equipped with ice and water dispensers. In general, the device is comprised of a specially configured plastic tubing product. More specifically, one end has a rigid inlet section, which is approximately 3-inches in diameter and 3-inches long. Additional telescoping sections allow the spout to be extended to at least 3-feet in length with an outlet tube diameter of at least 2xc2xd inches.
To attain this, the present invention essentially discloses an extendable telescoping tube, which can be positioned over one of the spouts in an ice or water dispenser for funneling the ice or water into a container that is too large to fit into the dispenser""s cavity. The extendable tube comprises a cylindrical inlet adapter tube that is about 3-inches long with a rubber insert around the inside diameter for sealing off the interface between the tube and the dispenser chute. Both the top and bottom of the inlet adapter tube are open, with the bottom having a means for coupling to additional extendable tube sections. The cylindrical shape of the inlet adapter tube fits against the curved portion of the dispenser""s push-lever to enable the supply of ice or water. A first extendable tube, whose outside diameter is sized to slide inside the inlet adapter tube, has an outward extending lip that connects to the bottom portion of the inlet adapter tube by attachment means, thereby locking the tubes movably together. One or more additional extendable telescoping tubes are used to extend the length of the spout, with each successive tube having a slightly smaller diameter so as to slide inside the adjacent tube, and each tube having an outward extending lip at the top opening and an inward extending lip at the bottom opening to lock the tubes movably together when fully extended. O-ring sealing means are used at the interface between sliding tubes to prevent the spilling of ice or water.
The extendable spout measures at least 2 feet in length when fully extended to allow large containers like coolers, water cans, and jugs, all to large to fit into a dispenser cavity, to be filled with ice and water (or other beverage, such as ice tea, soft drink, lemonade, etc.) Additionally, the spout can be bent outward and downward by adjusting the tube sections to allow the inlet adapter tube to fit inside the dispenser cavity and the outlet end of the extendable spout to extend outside the cavity, down into the container. The assembly can be collapsed to less than 6-inches for storing.
In use, the inlet tube is placed over the underside of the door-mounted ice or water discharge chute of a refrigerator, while the lower end of the extendable spout is inserted into a cooler, pitcher, or other vessel. The inlet tube is then pressed against the release lever of the appliance, thereby allowing ice or water to flow into the container.
The extendable spout can be used with refrigerators fitted with an outside door dispenser cavity or with beverage machines used in fast-food restaurants, which dispense ice and beverage.
There has thus been outlined, rather broadly, the more important features of the invention in order that the detailed description thereof that follows may be better understood and in order that the present contribution to the art may be better appreciated.
There are, of course, additional features of the invention that will be described hereinafter and which will form the subject matter of the claims attached.
Numerous objects, features and advantages of the present invention will be readily apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art upon a reading of the following detailed description of presently preferred, but nonetheless illustrative, embodiments of the present invention when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. In this respect, before explaining the current embodiment of the invention in detail, it is to be understood that the invention is not limited in its application to the details of construction and to the arrangements of the components set forth in the following description or illustrated in the drawings. The invention is capable of other embodiments and of being practiced and carried out in various ways. Also, it is to be understood that the phraseology and terminology employed herein are for the purpose of descriptions and should not be regarded as limiting.
As such, those skilled in the art will appreciate that the conception, upon which this disclosure is based, may readily be utilized as a basis for the designing of other structures, methods and systems for carrying out the several purposes of the present invention. It is important, therefore, that the claims be regarded as including such equivalent constructions insofar as they do not depart from the spirit and scope of the present invention.
It is therefore an object of the present invention is to provide a new ice and water extendable spout that provides in the apparatuses and methods of the prior art some of the advantages thereof, while simultaneously overcoming some of the disadvantages normally associated therewith.
It is another object of the present invention is to provide an extendable spout that can be extended in length and profile to allow the filling of large containers with ice and water directly from a conventional ice and water dispenser without spillage and can be collapsed to a small size for storage.
A further object of the present invention is to provide a new and improved ice and water extendable spout that may be easily and efficiently manufactured and marketed.
Lastly, an even further object of the present invention is to provide a new and improved ice and water extendable spout that has a low cost of manufacture with regard to both materials and labor, and which accordingly is then susceptible of low prices of sale to the consuming public, thereby making such extendable spouts economically available to the buying public.